Greek Gods: Hephaestus - YouTube Greek Gods: Hephaestus Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Sep 18, 2013 Hephaestus is the Greek god of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes.Hephaestus' Roman equivalent is Vulcan. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods. As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshiped in the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos. Hephaestus' symbols are a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs. A description of Hephaestus by William Smith.

Go to LearnOutLoud.com to download this and more Greek Mythology on mp3. Hephaestus | Mythology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit is the Greek lame Olympian god of the forge and of fire. He is the son of Hera , who bore him in retaliation for Zeus having bore Athena (though in many traditions, Hephaestus is present at the birth of Athena). Along with Athena, Hephaestus is an important god for city dwellers. He is the protector of smiths; she of weavers. His Roman counterpart is Vulcan . Edit Hephaestus was so ugly he brought shame to Hera so she threw him off Mount Olympus. Another account states that Hera, being embarrassed that her son was born a cripple, threw Hephaestus off Mount (Other stories say that it was Zeus that threw him after he came to Hera's side in an argument) Olympus, where Thetis and Amphitrite caught him. The seafolk taught him blacksmithing, and he had stayed there until he was the greatest blacksmith.

He had made a chair for his mother and asked Hermes to deliver it to her, but it was actually a trap and when she sat down she couldn't move. When he refused to release her, the gods sent Dionysus to intoxicate Hephaestus. Hephaestus, under the influence of Dionysus' potent wine, released his mother. As the god of fire, he makes all the armor, weapons and furnishings for the gods, working with the Cyclopes in his forges. He created handmaidens out of gold to help him in his forge beneath volcanoes. In Mythology Edit In mythology, while Hephaestus was away, Ares sneaked to Aphrodite 's chamber and slept with her. Hephaestus, when informed of the ongoing affair by Helios , resolved to catch the lovers in the act. He set up a trap that consisted of a net of very strong, very fine bronze webs, that would shoot out and trap Ares and Aphrodite. When the trap was sprung, Hephaestus invited the Olympians to watch them. The goddesses, wisely did not come, but the gods did.

Hephaestus demanded a fine from Ares for sleeping with his wife, and did not let him out until Poseidon , feeling embarrassed about watching all this, said that he would pay the fine. Ares then fled the scene. Family of Hephaestus Hephaestus - Greek God Profile Hephaestus Hephaestus Profile | Hephaestus Basics Who Is Hephaestus?: Hephaestus is a Greek god of volcanoes, a craftsman and blacksmith. He lusted after Athena, another crafts person, and in some versions is the husband of Aphrodite . He was thrown from Mt. Olympus and in some version landed in Lemnos where he built his furnaces under a volcano. He is also associated with Mt. Aetna . Gods and Goddesses Index Family of Origin of Hephaestus: Hephaestus was the son of only Hera whom she produced after her husband Zeus produced Athena without a woman. The birth of Hephaestus without the aid of a man makes it biologically parthenogenic, although the term parthenogenic is usually used in connection with the birth of Athena. Roman Equivalent Vulcan: Hephaestus was known as Vulcan by the Romans.

Attributes: The symbols for which Hephaestus is known are the tools he used -- axe and tongs. Powers of Hephaestus: Hephaestus was the blacksmith and craftsman of the gods. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know It was Hephaestus who chained Prometheus to the rock. The Lameness of Hephaestus: Hephaestus was a lame god because of a fall from Olympus. Zeus may have been responsible for casting Hephaestus out of the gods' home because he came to the aid of his mother Hera, but it is also said that Hera cast her already lame son out because she was ashamed of his infirmity. Hephaestus - Crystalinks Hephaestus was the Greek god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes. Hephaestus' Roman equivalent was Vulcan. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods. As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus.

He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centres of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Haphaestus was based in Lemnos. Hephaestus's symbols are a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs. Though his forge traditionally lay in the heart of Lemnos, Hephaestus was quickly identified by Greek colonists in southern Italy with the volcano gods Adranus of Mount Etna and Vulcanus of the Lipara islands, and his forge moved here by the poets. The first-century sage Apollonius of Tyana is said to have observed, "there are many other mountains all over the earth that are on fire, and yet we should never be done with it if we assigned to them giants and gods like Hephaestus" (Life of Apollonius of Tyana, book v.16). Hephaestus and his brother Ares were sons of Hera, with or without the cooperation of Zeus. In classic and late interpretations, Hera bore him alone, in jealousy for Zeus's solo birth of Athena, but as Hera is older than Zeus in terms of human history, the myth may be an inversion.

Indeed, in some versions of Athena's birth, the goddess only enters the world after Zeus' head is split open by a hammer-wielding Hephaestus. Either way, in Greek thought, the fates of the goddess of wisdom and war (Athena) and the god of the forge that makes the weapons of war were linked. In Attica, Hephaestus and Athena Ergane (Athena as patroness of craftsmen and artisans), were honored at a festival called Chalceia on the 30th day of Pyanepsion. Hephaestus crafted much of Athena's weaponry, along with those of the rest of the gods and even of a few mortals who received their special favor. An Athenian founding myth tells that Athena refused a union with Hephaestus, and that when he tried to force her she disappeared from the bed, and Hephaestus ejaculated on the earth, impregnating Gaia, who subsequently gave birth to Erichthonius of Athens; then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a serpent.

Hyginus made an etymology of strife (Eri-) between Athena and Hephaestus and the Earth-child (chthonios). Some readers may have the sense that an earlier, non-virginal Athena is disguised in a convoluted re-making of the myth-element. At any rate, there is a Temple of Hephaestus (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum") located near the Athens agora, or marketplace. The Temple of Hephaestus (Hephaesteum or the so-called "Theseum"), located at near the Athens agora, or marketplace. Hephaestus also crafted much of the other magnficent equipage of the gods, and almost any finely-wrought metalwork imbued with powers that appears in Greek myth is said to have been forged by Hephaestus: Hermes's winged helmet and sandals, the Aegis breastplate, Aphrodite's famed girdle, Achilles's armor, Heracles's bronze clappers, Helios's chariot, the shoulder of Pelops, Eros's bow and arrows and Hades's helmet of invisibility.

Hephaestus worked with the help of the chthonic Cyclopes, his assistants in the forge. He also built automatons of metal to work for him. He gave to blinded Orion his apprentice Cedalion as a guide. Prometheus stole the fire that he gave to man from Hephaestus' forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave man, the woman Pandora and her famous box. In Rubens' gritty Vulcan [Hephaestus] forging the thunderbolts of Jove, only the title is mythic in an essay in realism illuminated by the firelight of the forge.In Iliad i.590, Zeus threw Hephaestus from Olympus because he released his mother Hera who was suspended by a golden chain between earth and sky, after an argument she had with Zeus. Hephaestus fell for nine days and nights before landing on the island of Lemnos where he grew to be a master craftsman and was allowed back into Olympus when his ability and usefulness became known to the gods.Hephaestus was quite ugly; he was crippled and misshapen at birth: in the vase-paintings, his feet are sometimes back-to-front.

In art, Hephaestus was shown lame and bent over his anvil. He walked with the aid of a stick. Hera, mortified to have brought forth such grotesque offspring, promptly threw him from Mount Olympus. He fell, as he tells it himself in the Iliad (xviii.395) many days and nights and landed in the Ocean where he was brought up by the Oceanids Thetis (mother of Achilles) and Eurynome. (Hephaetus�s physical appearance indicates Arsenicosis, low levels of arsenic poisoning result in lameness and skin cancers. Arsenic was added to bronze to harden it and most smiths of the Bronze Age would have suffered from chronic workplace poisoning). Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical golden throne which, when she sat on it, didn't allow her to leave it. The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go but he repeatedly refused. Dionysus got him drunk and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule. Hephaestus released Hera after being given Aphrodite, the goddess of love, as his wife.

Hephaestus and Aphrodite In the Olympian order, Hephaestus was formally paired with Aphrodite, whom no one could possess. Although married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite gave herself in secret to Ares, according to a tale in the Odyssey. When Hephaestus found out about it from Helios, the Sun, who sees all, he surprised them during one of their trysts ensnared in his invisibly fine and unbreakable net and left them exposed for all of Olympus to see. The Thebans told that the union with Ares produced Harmonia, as lovely as a second Aphrodite. But of her union with Hephaestus, there was no issue, unless Virgil was serious when he said that Eros was their child (Aeneid i.664). But in Homer's Illiad the consort of Hephaestus is a lesser Aphrodite, Aglaia "the glorious," the youngest of the Graces, and Hesiod agrees. Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. One of those children was the robber Periphetes.

With Thalia, Hephaestus was sometimes considered the father of the Palici. Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek Phrygian and Thracian mystery cult of the Kabeiroi, who were also called the Hephaistoi, "the Hephaestus-men," in Lemnos. MYTHOLOGY - Hephaestus (Greek) - Wattpad Hephaestus (Greek) Historical Fiction Mythology can refer either to the collected myths of a group of people-their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs[1]-or to the study of such myths.[2] As a collection of such stories, mythology is an important fea... # Report Story Crippled god of fire, metalworking, and crafts. Husband to Aphrodite. Either the son of Zeus and Hera or Hera alone, he is the smith of the gods and the husband of the adulterous Aphrodite. He was usually depicted as a bearded man with hammer, tongs and anvil-the tools of a smith-and sometimes riding a donkey. His sacred animals are the donkey, the guard dog and the crane.

Among his creations was the armor of Achilles. Hephaestus used the fire of the forge as a creative force, but his Roman counterpart Vulcan was feared for his destructive potential and associated with the volcanic power of the earth.

Abode Mount Olympus Symbol Hammer, anvil, tongs, and/or quail Consort Aphrodite, Aglaea Parents Hera and Zeus, or Hera alone Siblings Ares, Eileithyia, Enyo, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hebe, Hermes, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Perseus, Minos, the Muses, the Graces Children Thalia, Eucleia, Eupheme, Philophrosyne, Cabeiri and Euthenia Roman equivalent Vulcan Hephaestus (/hɪˈfiːstəs/, /həˈfɛstəs/ or /hɨˈfɛstəs/; eight spellings; Ancient Greek: Ἥφαιστος Hēphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes.[1] Hephaestus' Roman equivalent is Vulcan. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods.

As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos.[2] Hephaestus' symbols are a smith's hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs.Hephaestus had his own palace on Olympus, containing his workshop with anvil and twenty bellows that worked at his bidding.[11] Hephaestus crafted much of the magnificent equipment of the gods, and almost any finely-wrought metalwork imbued with powers that appears in Greek myth is said to have been forged by Hephaestus. He designed Hermes' winged helmet and sandals, the Aegis breastplate, Aphrodite's famed girdle, Agamemnon's staff of office,[12] Achilles' armor, Heracles' bronze clappers, Helios' chariot, the shoulder of Pelops, and Eros' bow and arrows.

In later accounts, Hephaestus worked with the help of the chthonic Cyclopes-among them his assistants in the forge, Brontes, Steropes and Pyracmon.[13][14] Hephaestus also built automatons of metal to work for him. This included tripods that walked to and from Mount Olympus. He gave to the blinded Orion his apprentice Cedalion as a guide. Prometheus stole the fire that he gave to man from Hephaestus's forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave to man, the woman Pandora and her pithos. Being a skilled blacksmith, Hephaestus created all the thrones in the Palace of Olympus.[15] The Greek myths and the Homeric poems sanctified in stories that Hephaestus had a special power to produce motion.[16] He made the golden and silver lions and dogs at the entrance of the palace of Alkinoos in such a way that they could bite the invaders.[17] The Greeks maintained in their civilization an animistic idea that statues are in some sense alive.

This kind of art and the animistic belief goes back to the Minoan period, when Daedalus, the builder of the labyrinth made images which moved of their own accord.[18] A statue of the god was somehow the god himself, and the image on a man's tomb indicated somehow his presence.[19] Parentage Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, as well as some Attic vase paintings, have Hephaestus being born of the union of Zeus and Hera.[20] In another tradition, attested by Hesiod, Hera bore Hephaestus alone.[21] In Hesiod's Zeus-centered cosmology, Hera gave birth to Hephaestus as revenge at Zeus for his asexual birthing of Athena. Several later texts follow Hesiod's account, including Bibliotheke,[22] Hyginus, and the preface to Fabulae. However, in the account of Attic vase-painters, Hephaestus was present at the birth of Athena and wields the axe with which he split Zeus' head to free her.

In the latter account, Hephaestus is there represented as older than Athena, so the mythology of Hephaestus is inconsistent in this respect. You'll also like Continue Reading the Next Part Add HEPHAESTUS (Hephaistos) - Greek God of Smiths & Metalworking (Roman Vulcan) Hephaestus riding donkey, Athenian red-figure skyphos C5th B.C., Toledo Museum of Art HEPHAISTOS (Hephaestus) was the Olympian god of fire, smiths, craftsmen, metalworking, stonemasonry and sculpture. He was depicted as a bearded man holding a hammer and tongs--the tools of a smith--and sometimes riding a donkey. MYTHS Some of the more famous myths featuring the god include:-- His fall from Olympos in which he was cast away by Hera at birth. << More >> The capture of Hera in a cursed throne and his return to Olympos. << More >> The adultery of his wife Aphrodite who was trapped with Ares in a golden net. << More >> The crafting of Pandora, the first woman, at the command of Zeus.

<< More >> The attempted violation of Athena which resulted in the impregnation of Earth and the birth of Erikhthonios (Erichthonius). << More >> The crafting of the cursed necklace of Harmonia which doomed her descendants to a cycle of tragedy. << More >> The Trojan War in which he fought the river-god Skamandros (Scamander) with fire. << More >> The crafting of the armour of Akhilleus (Achilles) at the request of the hero's mother Thetis. << More >> Many other myths are detailed over the following pages. HEPHAESTUS PAGES ON THEOI.COM This site contains a total of 12 pages describing the god Hephaistos, including general descriptions, mythology, and cult. The content is outlined in the Index of Hephaestus Pages (left column or below).

FAMILY OF HEPHAESTUS PARENTS [1] HERA (no father) (Hesiod Theogony 927, Homeric Hymn 3.310, Apollodorus 1.19, Pausanias 1.20.3, Hyginus Pref) [2] ZEUS & HERA (Apollodorus 1.19, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.22) [3] TALOS (Pausanias 8.53.5) I) THE HOMERIC HYMNS Homeric Hymn 20 to Hephaestus (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) : "Sing, clear-voiced Mousa (Muse), of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) famed for inventions (klytometis). With bright-eyed Athene he taught men glorious crafts throughout the world,--men who before used to dwell caves in the mountains like wild beasts.

But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaistos the famed worker (klytotekhnes), easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the whole year round. Be gracious, Hephaistos, and grant me success and prosperity!" II) THE ORPHIC HYMNS Orphic Hymn 66 to Hephaestus (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) : "To Hephaistos (Hephaestus), Fumigation from Frankincense and Manna. Strong, mighty Hephaistos, bearing splendid light, unwearied fire, with flaming torrents bright: strong-handed, deathless, and of art divine, pure element, a portion of the world is thine: all-taming artist, all-diffusive power, 'tis thine, supreme, all substance to devour: aither, sun, moon, and stars, light pure and clear, for these thy lucid parts [of fire] to men appear. To thee all dwellings, cities, tribes belong, diffused through mortal bodies, rich and strong.

Hear, blessed power, to holy rites incline, and all propitious on the incense shine: suppress the rage of fire's unwearied frame, and still preserve our nature's vital flame." Dionysus and Hephaestus riding donkey, Caeretan black-figure hydria C6th B.C., Kunsthistorisches Museum PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF HEPHAESTUS Classical literature offers only a few, brief descriptions of the physical characteristics of the gods. Homer, Iliad 20. 37 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "Hephaistos (Hephaestus) went the way of these in the pride of his great strength limping, and yet his shrunken legs moved lightly beneath him." Homer, Iliad 18. 136 ff : "She found him [Hephaistos] sweating as he turned here and there to his bellows busily, since he was working on twenty tripods . . . Hephaistos took the huge blower off from the block of the anvil limping; and yet his shrunken legs moved lightly beneath him.

He set the bellows away from the fire, and gathered and put away all the tools with which he worked in a silver strongbox. Then with a sponge he wiped clean his forehead, and both hands, and his massive neck and hairy chest, and put on a tunic, and took up a heavy stick in his hand, and went to the doorway limping. And in support of their master moved his attendants. These are golden, and in appearance like living young women. There is intelligence in their hearts, and there is speech in them and strength, and from the immortal gods they have learned how to do things. These stirred nimbly in support of their master." Homer, Odyssey 8. 267 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) : "[Hephaistos speaks :] ‘I am a cripple from my birth.’" Cicero, De Natura Deorum 1. 24 (trans.

Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) : "At Athens there is a much-praised statue of Volcanus (Vulcan) [Hephaistos] by Alcamenes, a standing figure, draped, which displays a slight lameness, though not enough to be unsightly. We shall therefore deem god to be lame, since tradition represents Volcanus so." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. 88 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "The heavyknee bridegroom [Hephaistos] always expected that Kythereia (Cytherea) [Aphrodite] would bear him a hobbling son, having the image of his father in his feet." ANCIENT GREEK & ROMAN ART Greco-Roman Marble Statue ENCYCLOPEDIA Hephaestus, Thetis and the armour of Achilles, Athenian red-figure nolan amphora C5th B.C., Museum of Fine Arts Boston HEPHAESTUS (Hêphaistos), the god of fire, was, according to the Homeric account, the son of Zeus and Hera. (Il. i.

578, xiv. 338, xviii. 396, xxi. 332, Od. viii. 312.) Later traditions state that he had no father, and that Hera gave birth to him independent of Zeus, as she was jealous of Zeus having given birth to Athena independent of her. (Apollod. i. 3. § 5; Hygin. Fab. Praef.) This, however, is opposed to the common story, that Hephaestus split the head of Zeus, and thus assisted him in giving birth to Athena, for Hephaestus is there represented as older than Athena. A further development of the later tradition is, that Hephaestus sprang from the thigh of Hera, and, being for a long time kept in ignorance of his parentage, he at length had recourse to a stratagem, for the purpose of finding it out. He constructed a chair, to which those who sat upon it were fastened, and having thus entrapped Hera, he refused allowing her to rise until she had told him who his parents were. (Serv. ad Aen. viii. 454, Eclog. iv.

62.) For other accounts respecting his origin, see Cicero (de Nat. Deor. iii. 22), Pausanias (viii. 53. § 2). and Eustathius (ad Hom. p. 987). Hephaestus is the god of fire, especially in so far as it manifests itself as a power of physical nature in volcanic districts, and in so far as it is the indispensable means in arts and manufactures, whence fire is called the breath of Hephaestus, and the name of the god is used both by Greek and Roman poets as synonymous with fire. As a flame arises out of a little spark, so the god of fire was delicate and weakly from his birth, for which reason he was so much disliked by his mother, that she wished to get rid of him, and dropped him from Olympus. But the marine divinities, Thetis and Eurynome, received him, and he dwelt with them for nine years in a grotto, surrounded by Oceanus, making for them a variety of ornaments. (Hom. Il. xviii.

394, &c.) It was, according to some accounts, during this period that he made the golden chair by which he punished his mother for her want of affection, and from which he would not release her, till he was prevailed upon by Dionysus. (Paus. i. 20. § 2; Hygin. Fab. 166.) Although Hephaestus afterwards remembered the cruelty of his mother, yet he was always kind and obedient towards her, nay once, while she was quarrelling with Zeus, he took her part, and thereby offended his father so much, that he seized him by the leg, and hulled him down from Olympus. Hephaestus was a whole day falling, but in the evening he came down in the island of Lemnos, where he was kindly received by the Sintians. (Hom. Il. i. 590, &c. Val. Flacc. ii. 8.5; Apollod. i. 3.

§ 5, who, however, confounds the two occasions on which Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus.) Later writers describe his lameness as the consequence of his second fall, while Homer makes him lame and weak from his birth. After his second fall he returned to Olympus, and subsequently acted the part of mediator between his parents. (Il i. 585.) On that occasion he offered a cup of nectar to his mother and the other gods, who burst out into immoderate laughter on seeing him busily hobbling through Olympus from one god to another, for he was ugly and slow, and, owing to the weakness of his legs, he was held up, when he walked, by artificial supports, skilfully made of gold. (Il. xviii. 410, &c., Od. viii. 311, 330.) His neck and chest, however, were strong and muscular. (Il. xviii. 415, xx. 36.) In Olympus, Hephaestus had his own palace, imperishable and shining like stars: it contained his workshop, with the anvil, and twenty bellows, which worked spontaneously at his bidding. (Il. xviii.

370, &c.) It was there that he made all his beautiful and marvellous works, utensils, and arms, both for gods and men. The ancient poets and mythographers abound in passages describing works of exquisite workmanship which had been manufactured by Hephaestus. In later accounts, the Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes, Pyracmon, and others, are his workmen and servants, and his workshop is no longer represented as in Olympus, but in the interior of some volcanic isle. (Virg. Aen. viii. 416, &c.) The wife of Hephaestus also lived in his palace: in the Iliad she is called a Charis, in the Odyssey Aphrodite (Il. xviii. 382, Od. viii. 270), and in Hesiod's Theogony (945) she is named Aglaia. the youngest of the Charites. The story of Aphrodite's faithlessness to her husband, and of the manner in which he surprised her, is exquisitely described in Od. viii. 266-358.

The Homeric poems do not mention any descendants of Hephaestus, but in later writers the number of his children is considerable. In the Trojan war he was on the side of the Greeks, but he was also worshipped by the Trojans, and on one occasion he saved a Trojan from being killed by Diomedes. (Il. v. 9, &c.) His favourite place on earth was the island of Lemnos, where he liked to dwell among the Sintians (Od. viii. 283, &c., Il. i. 593; Ov Fast. viii. 82); but other volcanic islands also, such as Lipara, Hiera, Imbros. and Sicily, are called his abodes or workshops. (Apollon. Rhod iii. 41; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 47; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 416; Strab. p. 275; Plin. H. N. iii. 9; Val. Flacc. ii.

96.) Hephaestus is among the male what Athena is among the female deities, for, like her, he give skill to mortal artists, and, conjointly with her, he was believed to have taught men the arts which embellish and adorn life. (Od. vi. 233, xxiii. 160. Hymn. in Vaulc. 2. &c.) But he was. nevertheless, conceived as far inferior to the sublime character of Athena. At Athens they had temples and festivals in common. (See Dict of Ant. s. v. Hêphaisteia, Chalkeia.) Both also were believed to have great healing powers, and Lemnian earth (terra Lemnia) from the spot on which Hephaestus had fallen was believed to cure madness, the bites of snakes, and haemorrhage, and the priests of the god knew how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes. (Philostr. Heroic. v. 2; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 330; Dict. Cret. ii.

14.) The epithets and surnames by which Hephaestus is designated by the poets generally allude to his skill in the plastic arts or to his figure and his lameness. He was represented in the temple of Athena Chalcioecus at Sparta, in the act of delivering his mother (Paus. iii. 17. § 3); on the chest of Cypselus, giving to Thetis the armour for Achilles (v. 19. § 2); and at Athens there was the famous statue of Hephaestus by Alcamenes, in which his lameness was slightly indicated. (Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 30; Val. Max. viii. 11. § 3.) The Greeks frequently placed small dwarf-like statues of the god near the hearth, and these dwarfish figures seem to have been the most ancient. (Herod. iii. 37; Aristoph. Av. 436; Callim. Hymnn. in Dian.

60.) During the best period of Grecian art, he was represented as a vigorous man with a beard, and is characterised by his hammer or some other instrument, his oval cap, and the chiton, which leaves the right shoulder and arm uncovered. The Romans, when speaking of the Greek Hephaestus, call him Vulcanus, although Vulcanus was an original Italian divinity. Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. SOURCES (ALL HEPHAESTUS PAGES) Statius, Thebaid - Latin Epic C1st A.D. Statius, Silvae - Latin Poetry C1st A.D. Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D. BYZANTINE Photius, Myriobiblon - Byzantine Greek Scholar C9th A.D. Suidas, The Suda - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D. OTHER SOURCES Source status of Hephaistos pages:- 1.

Fully quoted: Homer (Iliad & Odyssey), Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle & Homerica, Aesop, Apollodorus, Pausanias, Strabo, Herodotus, Orphic Hymns, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Callimachus, Antoninus Liberalis, Aelian, Hyginus (Fabulae & Astronomica);, Ovid (Metamorphoses & Fasti), Cicero, Apuleius, Apollonius of Tyana; 2. Partially or not quoted (Greek): Pindar, Greek Lyric (Fragments), Greek Elegaic (Fragments), Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plato, Apollonius Rhodius, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Lycophron, Plutarch, Philostratus & Callistratus, Nonnus, Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus, et. al.; 3. Partially or not quoted (Latin): Statius, Propertius, Valerius Flaccus, et. al.

Hephaestus | God of War Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Hephaestus (Hēphaistos) was a Greek god, whose Roman equivalent was Vulcanus , though in Roman Mythology he is not considered to be the "Fallen" god and has a higher status than his Greek counterpart. His mother was Hera , who gave birth to him either alone or with Zeus . He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and he was worshiped in the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly in Athens . The center of his cult was in Lemnos . Hephaestus' symbols are a smith's hammer, an anvil and a pair of tongs , although sometimes he is portrayed holding an axe. Hephaestus is the only Olympian God to have been exiled from Olympus and return. In a Homeric version of Hephaestus' myth, Hera, mortified to have such a grotesque offspring, promptly threw him from Mount Olympus . He fell nine days and nights and landed in the ocean.

Hephaestus, being the most unfaltering of the gods, was given Aphrodite 's hand in marriage by Zeus in order to prevent conflict over her between the other gods. However, this did not stop her from having secret affairs with other men, be it mortal or god. It was Ares she was attracted to the most, something that Helios told Hephaestus after catching them in an affair. Hephaestus created an invisible net and hung it above his bed, making sure it was completely hidden. Then he told his wife that he was going on a trip. The moment her husband was gone, Aphrodite invited Ares for a visit. The lovers went to bed, but the net fell on them while they were making love. It was impossible for the couple either to escape or to separate. The more they tried, the more they became tangled. Hephaestus then invited the other gods to see their shameful position, in further mockery. Naked and damp, their limbs entangled in each other's and in the golden web that held them. After publicly humiliating them, Aphrodite and Hephaestus' relationship became bitter, and Hephaestus grew to dislike Ares even more.

In the God of War Series Edit Before his elder brother Ares' death, and Kratos opening Pandora's Box , Hephaestus was the most prized craftsmen of all Olympus, and was rewarded with marriage to Aphrodite. Hephaestus' deformed appearance may be due to being brutally attacked by Zeus after the King of the Gods was filled with the Evil Fear, and became enraged with Kratos' retrieval of the Box. Chains of Olympus Edit Hephaestus was mentioned as the creator of the Gauntlet of Zeus . It is said in the description of the item that Zeus demanded him to craft a weapon that would bind the Titans to the very walls of Tartarus . Thus was created the Gauntlet of Zeus. God of War III Edit When Kratos traveled through the underworld after being dislodged from Gaia , he stumbled upon Hephaestus in his forge . After exchanging insults, Hephaestus revealed that although Zeus was the one to imprison him. Kratos was in fact the true source of his torment, though Kratos insists he did the Smith God no wrong and that he is after only one Olympian. "Well, as long as it's one Olympian," chuckled Hephaestus.

When Kratos inquired about the Flame of Olympus , Hephaestus told of how everyone on Olympus knew and respected it. He continued to warn Kratos, saying that it was powerful enough to kill both man and god. When Kratos insisted upon knowing its location, Hephaestus sarcastically replied by stating that if Kratos could find his way out of the Underworld , he could find the Flame as well. "You have been truly helpful, Hephaestus," Kratos sarcastically replied back. Second Encounter Edit After killing Hades , Kratos returned to the forge, informing the Smith God of his triumph over the God of the Underworld. The Smith God chuckled, "Dead? Hades deserved to suffer, though I thought his death would be impossible." "Olympians overestimate themselves," said Kratos. Hephaestus replied, laughing, "Interesting. I will keep that in mind, Spartan." Kratos looked at a Hyperion Gate nearby, but the Smith God told him, "You need the soul of a God to use the Hyperion Gates, Kratos. And that one has not been used for centuries.

I'm sure it's broken; otherwise I would have seen my beautiful...You know Kratos, I wasn't always like this: a monster!" Hephaestus then regaled Kratos with his past life as the prized craftsman of the gods, but concluded by stating that his perfect life ended when Kratos killed Ares. Furthermore, the girl whom he considered his daughter, Pandora, had been taken away from him by Zeus, never to return. He had tried to recreate her in the forge ever since, but failed time and time again. He asked Kratos to retrieve Pandora for him, but Kratos dismissed his request, stating he had other concerns, although Hephaestus tried to persuade Kratos again by reminding the Ghost of Sparta about his own role as a father. Kratos, visibly touched, paused for a moment, before leaving the Forge. Third Encounter Edit Kratos returned to Hephaestus through the Hyperion Gate connecting the Forge with Aphrodite's bedchamber. At first Hephaestus believed it to be his wife, before recoiling at the sight of Kratos. He asked humorously if Aphrodite had "conquered another God of War".

Kratos called that a question Hephaestus should ask his wife, demanding to know the whereabouts of the Labyrinth, to which Hephaestus expressed some confusion as he thought Kratos was only searching for the Flame of Olympus. He quickly realized that Pandora was being held in the Labyrinth and that Kratos intended to use her as a means of destroying the Flame . Hephaestus angrily told Kratos to stay away from Pandora, citing that he was the reason both of them were imprisoned, to which Kratos retorted that he did them no wrong. Hephaestus countered, saying it was because he opened the box, but Kratos replied that he "did what had to be done", at which point Hephaestus began to unfold a bigger picture: The Evils from the first Titanomachy could not easily be contained. That is why Hephaestus forged Pandora's Box in a power greater than the Gods: the Flame of Olympus. As the raw metal took its shape, he realized that the flame was the safest and only place to protect it. To open the Box, he forged a key that took on its own life and took the form of a teenage girl; neither living nor dead.

Dubbed Pandora , the two would grow to love each other as father and daughter. Aware that Zeus would take Pandora from him, Hephaestus hid the girl away and lied to Zeus, saying the safest place to keep the Box was on top of Cronos' back. After Kratos used the box to kill Ares, Zeus, driven by madness and fear, angrily battered Hephaestus until he revealed his deceit, despite the fact that Zeus had actually aided Kratos on his quest to retrieve the box from Pandora's Temple. Zeus subsequently took Pandora from her father, and sent him to the Underworld. Hephaestus then desperately attempted to dissuade Kratos from finding Pandora, but the Ghost of Sparta claimed that nothing would stop him from destroying Zeus. Running out of options, Hephaestus decided to kill Kratos. The smith god first faked wanting to help him, and told the Spartan to travel to the Pit of Tartarus in order to find the Omphalos Stone , so that he could make a weapon for Kratos.

Kratos initially did not want a new weapon, stating he already had plenty, but Hephaestus insisted the weapon he would create would be a "special" one that would "give him the retribution he deserved". However, when Kratos entered the door that led toward Tartarus, Hephaestus sealed the door shut, snickering out loud. Final Encounter Edit Whilst on his quest, Kratos battled the Titan Cronos , and slew him, taking the Omphalos Stone from his body. Returning to Hephaestus, Kratos was furious, as he believed the Smith God had sent him on a suicide mission. Hephaestus pleaded innocence, claiming that he knew the Ghost of Sparta could handle himself. After completing the Nemesis Whip , Hephaestus tried electrocuting Kratos with his Ring in a final attempt to kill him, shouting, "Here is your retribution!" Kratos managed to shake off the effect and kill Hephaestus by impaling him on his own anvil. In his dying words, the smith god pleaded with Kratos to spare his daughter, as well as begging for Pandora's forgiveness, after which he passed away.

Kratos appeared to bear no ill will towards Hephaestus for this betrayal however, as he later told Pandora that Hephaestus had done what any father should: protect his child. Powers and Abilities Edit Hephaestus, as a god was immortal, and possessed regeneration and super strength, as well as the ability to shapeshift, although clearly to a lesser extent than the other deities. He was also a masterful blacksmith, forging powerful artifacts such as Pandora's Box and the Gauntlet of Zeus . Even after his fall from grace, Hephaestus retained his skill, being able to make several flawless statues in Pandora's likeness (albeit unable to breathe life into them as he had with the original), and forging the Nemesis Whip out of nothing but the Omphalos Stone and his bare hands in very short notice. As the god of fire, Hephaestus is completely immune to the element. During his conversations with Kratos, Hephaestus can be seen sitting in molten, boiling lava, without so much as flinching. During his battle against Kratos, it was revealed that he can discharge electric charges from his ring.

But even being a god, he was killed off far easier than the other gods, of whom most had been weakened by extreme power or killed by divine weaponry. (It is possible that the anvil which impaled and killed Hephaestus was considered a godly weapon/item. This would explain why it was able to kill Hephaestus, a God.) Personality Edit Out of all the Gods Of Olympus, Hephaestus was the most benevolent besides Athena. Hephaestus loved the things he forged and created, with his most cherished creation being Pandora, whom he came to love as his own daughter. However, Hephaestus had very low self-esteem due to the fact that his mother Hera hated him despite bragging of his talent, and also because his wife Aphrodite cheated on him with Ares and then Kratos. Hephaestus was most likely infected with the evils Misery and/or Deceit after Kratos opened Pandora's Box to destroy Ares and after Zeus brutally beat him and kidnapped Pandora. Gallery Edit Rip Torn , who provided Hephaestus' voice, ironically voiced Zeus in the Disney movie, Hercules.

Judging from his constant depression over Pandora and two attempts at killing Kratos, Hephaestus was most likely infected with the evils Misery and Deceit from Pandora's box. Albeit he showed no intent to deceive or betray the warrior until Kratos became a threat to his daughter's life, intentionally or not. His sadness also might have been caused by Zeus' brutal and merciless punishment for keeping Pandora and taking her away from him. He also lied to Kratos that he would help him destroy Zeus and asked him to bring him the Omphalos Stone so that a new weapon could be built. This however was merely a suicide mission so he would protect Pandora from Kratos. Interestingly, no significant event happens upon the death of Hephaestus, though he was the god of volcanoes, smithery, forging, and similar things dealing with fire. The GoW Community theorized his death triggered the eruption of volcanoes. In a way, Hephaestus himself was indirectly responsible for bringing about his own demise, as Pandora's Box was designed to forever contain the evils of the Titanomachy, and yet, he created Pandora as a key to retrieve the box.

Whatever reason compelled him to create a means, while it was never meant to be opened again is unknown. Hephaestus blaming Kratos for his suffering is therefore a meaningless argument. Similar to Gaia, Hephaestus first aided Kratos—in this case by crafting him a new weapon—only to turn his back on him. Helios informed Hephaestus about Ares and Aphrodite's affair in Greek Mythology, hence Hephaestus remark on Aphrodite having conquered another god of war. Kratos seemed to have little to no lingering animosity over the Smith God's betrayal, later telling Pandora that Hephaestus died doing what any father should do: protecting the life of his child. This meant that Kratos completely understood why Hephaestus tried to kill Kratos in the first place and Kratos would have done the same in that situation. Kratos and Hephaestus have similar lives, as both had a family, both were attacked by their father, Zeus, both would do anything to protect their children, both treated Pandora like a daughter, and both were cast down from Olympus. Hephaestsus' right eye is horribly scarred, most likely as a result of being tortured by Zeus.

The fact that he was killed off so easily by Kratos, by stabbing him on his own anvil, might implied that Zeus removed certain of his godly abilities after his betrayal, as similar to what he had done to Prometheus. During Kratos' third encounter with Hephaestus, he warned him to stay away from Pandora, which is strange because when Kratos met the Smith God for the second time, Hephaestus asked Kratos to rescue Pandora. Perhaps the change of heart occurred after Hephaestus realized the reason why he was searching for the Labyrinth and Pandora: to destroy the Flame of Olympus, which will require the sacrifice of Pandora's life in the process. In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was born ugly and cast down from Olympus for this reason. In the God of War mythos, however, Hephaestus was once handsome but this was changed when he was tortured and deformed by Zeus. Interestingly, the Smith God had nothing to do with the creation of the Gods' most powerful weapon, the Blade of Olympus . Hephaestus' power over electricity seems to be a common trait from his family.

His father (Zeus), uncle (Poseidon) and grandfather (Cronos) all possess this ability.

Question: Who was the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus?
Answer: VULCAN